Among all the terms inherited from the gaming world, one of the most popular is the refresh rate. This has ended up evolving over time and has become the variable refresh rate. Today we tell you everything you need to know about the variable refresh rate on Smart TVs and game consoles that are about to reach our homes.
What is the refresh rate?
The first and most important thing is to know exactly what we are talking about. Starting from the base, the refresh rate or refresh rate is defined as the number of times or frequency with which the image is updated on a screen per second.
Sometimes this parameter is confused with the frame rate or images of a video game but, so that you can easily understand it, the first depends on the monitor hardware and the second on the software or video game code. If we have a game, and a console or PC that can reproduce it graphically, capable of giving 120 fps but then our monitor has a refresh rate of 60 Hz, the image will be displayed at 60 frames per second. What’s more, we could have visualization problems such as tearing in the image , which consists of an anomalous partition of the image on the screen.
Benefits of the variable refresh rate on a Smart TV
Now that you know what the basis of this parameter is and the problems that not using a correct screen can generate, what is the variable refresh rate? Well, as its name indicates, it is a parameter that will vary depending on the needs of the title we are playing.
The variable refresh rate allows the screens to adjust the images shown at each moment to the amount of frames that the game is receiving. This makes the experience ultra smooth in those situations with a lot of movement in the scene (such as racing or action games), and that there is no excessive consumption in static scenes or with very little movement.
Therefore, the greatest benefit of a variable refresh rate is to give a more fluid and realistic experience in video games. In addition, for the most professional , it gives them an extra tenth of a second to react in competitive games. A time that is vitally important to you and that can mean the difference between winning or losing a game.
Smart TV and compatible game consoles
In the case of using PCs and gaming monitors , there are technologies such as FreeSync or G-SYNC , from AMD and NVIDIA, which allow the monitor to have a variable refresh rate to adapt to each game scenario. Although, really, today there is no model that takes full advantage of it, since, for this, it is necessary that they have HDMI 2.1 ports. What about users who play on console and Smart TV?
With the arrival of game consoles such as the Xbox Series X and the PS5 are compatible with FreeSync as confirmed by Microsoft and Sony, with both it will be possible to play with a variable refresh rate.
For this reason, television manufacturers such as Samsung, TCL or LG itself are putting the batteries in so that their Smart TVs have this type of technology and be able to meet the needs of the gaming sector on their screens. Thus, whatever platform each user chooses, they will be able to enjoy a perfect gaming experience.